Inventory Management counts the items you sell, one unit at a time. Ingredient Management counts the raw materials and consumables used up by the items you sell, and deducts them automatically with every sale. Use this article to decide which one you need.
Applies to: All markets · Qashier POS and QashierHQ · Inventory Management and Ingredient Management (each is turned on separately for each store).
Quick answer
Use Inventory Management for items you sell as they are, such as canned drinks, bottled water, packaged snacks or retail merchandise. One sale takes one unit off the stock count.
Use Ingredient Management for things that go into what you sell, such as rice, chicken, milk, coffee beans, cups, straws or takeaway boxes. One sale takes the amount the recipe uses off each ingredient.
Use both if you sell both kinds of item. They work side by side in the same store.
How each one works in Qashier
Inventory Management | Ingredient Management | |
What it counts | Units of a product you sell | Ingredients and consumables, in their own unit (for example g, ml or pcs) |
How you set it up | Tick Track Inventory on the product in Product Management. The product then appears on the inventory list automatically. | Add each ingredient with an Ingredient Name, Ingredient Unit and cost, then assign it to the products that use it with a Deduct Ratio (how much one sale uses). |
What happens when you sell | The product's stock goes down by the quantity sold. | Each assigned ingredient goes down by its deduct ratio times the quantity sold. |
What else you can do | Stock actions such as Stock Received (+), Damage/Loss/Theft (−), Restock Return and Reset To Number; low stock alerts; Stock Take on Qashier POS; stock requests and transfers between stores; Shopify and WooCommerce stock sync. | The same stock actions for ingredients, and a low stock threshold with Low stock and Out of stock counts. |
Good for | Retail shops, and drinks or snacks sold as they are in F&B | Restaurants, cafes, bakeries and bubble tea shops that prepare what they sell |
Neither feature tracks expiry dates or places orders with suppliers.
Example: a chicken rice stall
The stall sells chicken rice and canned drinks, and turns on both features.
Inventory Management: the stall ticks Track Inventory on each canned drink. When a customer buys one can, the stock count for that drink goes down by 1.
Ingredient Management: the stall creates the ingredients rice (g), chicken (g) and takeaway box (pcs), and assigns them to the chicken rice product with deduct ratios of 150, 120 and 1. When a customer buys two plates, Qashier deducts 300 g of rice, 240 g of chicken and 2 takeaway boxes.
Packaging and consumables used per order, such as cups, straws, cutlery and takeaway boxes, are best set up as ingredients, because you rarely sell them as products on their own.
Can I use both?
Yes. Both features can be on in the same store, and each keeps its own stock. When you void a sale on Qashier POS, you are asked "Would you like to add back the inventory and ingredient of the voided items?", so you can put both kinds of stock back in one step.
Where to find them
QashierHQ: in the left menu, under Products & Inventory, click Inventory / Ingredient. Use the Inventory tab for product stock and the Ingredient tab for ingredients. If a tab shows an introduction page instead of a list, that feature is not on yet for the store. Use the button on that page, or see How to Add Features and Manage Your Plan in Qashier Marketplace (QashierHQ).
Qashier POS: on the home screen, tap Inventory Management. Product stock is listed there. Tap Ingredients to open Ingredient Management.
If something goes wrong
Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
A product is not on the inventory list | Track Inventory is not ticked for it | Tick Track Inventory on the product. See How to Track Inventory in QashierHQ |
Ingredient stock does not go down when you sell | The ingredient is not assigned to that product, or the deduct ratio is wrong | Check the product's assigned ingredients. See How to Assign Ingredients to Products (Deduct Ratio) in QashierHQ |
No Ingredients button on Qashier POS | Ingredient Management is not on for the store | Turn it on in QashierHQ, or contact support |
Qashier POS shows "Please manage ingredients on HQ" | Your store has a very large product catalogue, so ingredients are managed in QashierHQ only | Use the Ingredient tab in QashierHQ |
If you are still not sure which feature fits your business, contact Qashier Support.
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Last verified: 25 Sep 2026 · Markets: All markets